This invention relates generally to shipping containers and more specifically to a double depth shipping container that may be folded into one of two positions to provide a one-piece multiple size container.
In the manufacture and sale of clothing, it is known to manufacture the various parts of a unit of clothing either at separate locations or by separate companies. For example, in the manufacture of a two-piece set of children's clothes, the pants may be manufactured in one building and the shirt may be manufactured in another building. When this occurs, it is desirable to fill a shipping container at the first location with the childrens pants and to transport the container to the second location where the childrens shirts are added to the container. Thereafter the entire container would be shipped to a final destination where the two-piece combinations may be assembled or sold separately as desired.
It is for this purpose that the subject invention was designed in order to eliminate the use of separate containers required for the separate shipping stations and also to provide a single one-piece shipping container that may be foldable into multiple sizes of containers.
It is also desirable in other industries such as the plastics industries to have available a container in which the basic raw material such as sheets of plastic may be shipped in a container to a fabrication site. At the fabrication site the container may be unloaded and the parts fabricated and reloaded into the same container which could be opened to a larger or extended size. Until the applicants' invention was completed, this was not possible with a one-piece container and either a two-piece container was required or several size containers had to be utilized resulting in additional packaging cost being passed onto the ultimate customer.
It is known in the packaging art to provide shipping containers which are foldable from a collapsed or non-use position to an extended usable position. Such a container is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,847, issued Apr. 25, 1978 to Richard P. Jacalone and assigned to Olinkraft Inc. In the cited reference a top and bottom cap are foldable over a collapsed tube assembly and other parts for purposes of shipping the pack to the customer. Upon receipt of the pack, the container is assembled to the usable position shown in FIG. 7 of the drawing and is filled with a desired quantity of product. The container shown in the cited patent is not usable in its collapsed non-use position other than as a shipping container for the respective parts of the package as can be seen by referring to FIG. 2 of the drawing.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a two-piece shipping container as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,562, issued Apr. 15, 1969 to William G. Connor et al. and assigned to Inter Store Transfer Specialists Inc. By a two-piece container the applicants are herein referring to the body structure of the container and are not referring to the top cap feature of the container which is used in many containers of the type described. In the cited patent issued to Connor et al there is taught also a container which is foldable from a collapsed or non-use position to an extended usable position with the use of an inner liner 30 as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. The container shown in this patent is designed for use in an expanded condition for the storage and transport of objects and is adapted to be collapsed for intermediate periods of non-use to a smaller size that when expanded. Such a container as shown as well as the previously described container shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,847 would not be usable in the packaging situations hereinbefore described wherein it is desirable to be able to have available a single one-piece container which is expandable from a usable compact position to a usable extended position as is provided for by the applicants' invention.